The Verge of Destruction
by GoldFlareon
Summary: Penny's perspective of a scene from the 18th chapter of Racingwolf's story, Cryptic Investigation. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ HER STORY PLEASE. One-shot.


**The Verge of Destruction**

She was staring death in the face.

It seemed as if her entire life had boiled down to that point, and not only hers, but the two lives of her friends as well. ChalkZone was in danger, nearly on the edge of ruin, and the only thing that lay between its destruction and its survival was the magic chalk. Its wondrous power had helped them many a time, but there was only so much it could do in certain situations. The only way it was useful at all was when its bearer was in a fit condition to use it. And Rudy certainly wasn't.

She struggled time and again to find a way out of her situation. Every few seconds, a deafening crash rang throughout her head, shaking her entire body and coursing fear through her body. The barrier around her had protected her so far, which she was extremely grateful for, and only wished that she was able to do more from her position. The dragon's great and heavy tail would not let up its constant bashing, which forced her to bind her teeth with anxiousness and the extreme desire to survive. Nothing she did was going to help, however; even if she had a way to escape, she did not have any chalk, and it would be impossible to avoid the swipe of the dragon's deadly tail.

She cringed as it again came down, sending vibrations throughout the small enclosure she had managed to encase herself in, the rock wall behind her spanning across one side of the giant cavern. She held her jaws together in an effort to stop her frantic shaking; a few times, she had accidentally bitten her tongue, and other times, her head thudded against the rock behind her.

Despite the distraction of the booming tail, Penny's focus was primarily at the other end of the dragon, near the entrance to the next room, where the beast's great front paw was threatening her best friend. Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought that he was being crushed, robbed of the chance for respite. She had heard of survivor's guilt, but even while her friend still drew breath – not that she expected him to stop – she could feel the stirring sickness in her gut, the nervousness and fear she felt for the situation, which made her wish he could be where she was, and she could take his place. The protector of ChalkZone, brave and noble – her _best friend _– was under serious threat.

"Rudy...oh, Rudy," she whispered to herself, tears finding their way to her eyes. Her best friend was always ensuring she and Snap were away from harm, and she just knew that he would not want it any other way. As the thought of Snap passed through her mind, she only found herself worrying more. Although he was not directly involved in their horrifically dangerous situation, the dragon was sure to escape soon, and Snap would not be fast enough to escape its dreadful rampage. Not only would Snap be one of its first victims, but ChalkZone would be sure to swiftly follow.

She heard Rudy cry out and just as she tried to make out his form under the dragon's giant front foot, her barrier was assaulted by another slam from the tail. She shrieked upon impact and gritted her teeth, instinctively shielding her head even while knowing that it was near-impossible for her green-tinted barrier to shatter.

As she again glanced up, still trying desperately to come up with a solution, something strange entered her vision from the other end of the room. After focusing, she realised that it was another person, and one roughly her and Rudy's size. With a wave of horror, she identified the being as Snap, and he was heading directly for the small fragment of lime-coloured chalk resting on the floor of the cavern not too far from Rudy. She straightened up, pressing her face against the barrier wall as another slam from the tail forced her to pull away in shock, and felt herself panic a little as Snap tumbled to the ground on his way to the chalk.

"What...what is he _doing_?!" she shouted to herself, as if she expected an immediate answer. She began to shake her head with absent consistency. "Snap...no, Snap!" she half-yelled, completely confused by his behaviour. What exactly was he planning to do with the chalk? It was beyond obvious that he had no direct use for it himself, so she could not help but wonder what his intentions were... "Oh no..." she began with wide eyes, watching as he reached for the chalk and scooped it up.

The determination in his eyes was clear; Penny could see this even from a distance. It was partially unclear, but whatever it was, she was sure that he was making an effort to save Rudy. That _had _to be it. As she pressed herself up against the barrier wall again, distress crawled onto her face, seeping into her body and spreading like a virus. "SNAP!" she screeched, desperate to gain his attention. She looked frantically to the dragon toward the left wall, which Snap, now with the chalk in hand, tried to pull away from. "Snap, stop!"

It was either that the blue and white Zoner did not hear her pleas, or simply forced himself to ignore them as he pressed on, hobbling as best he could toward the wall. On top of her fear was the realisation that he was coming her way, and would likely lead the dragon to her. If it started to attack her with more force, she was afraid that the impenetrable barrier would somehow fail.

Suddenly she noticed that the dragon moved away from the wall it rested beside. With a flicker of hope, she wondered if it had shifted enough that it was able to release some pressure on Rudy, and hoped that he was able to breathe. From what it had looked like, he had been completely compressed under the weight of the dragon's foot, and she would not be surprised if he was struggling to hold onto his consciousness. The thought was frightening, and whatever hope she felt for the start of Rudy's recovery was completely eradicated as she realised that Snap was coming dangerously close to absorbing too much of the dragon's attention.

She was about to call out again when he began to glance around and suddenly laid eyes on her, and suddenly it was as if time slowed. She met Snap's gaze, soaked with the fear, sorrow and distress swirling in his mind which was conveyed silently to her. She couldn't quite understand why, but as she went to call something out, she found that she had lost the ability to speak. She wanted to cry out to him, to tell him that he didn't need to do this, but nothing would develop. She attempted to push out words of warning and care to alert him to the fact that he was not alone, and that there had to be another way to save Rudy, but the expectation that something would flood out through her mouth and bathe him in confidence fell short of happening. It was like her mind dried up and nothing could flow. She was stuck in a moment of silence, of confusion and of helplessness. There was nothing she could do but stare.

Snap broke their gaze and Penny returned to reality. She blinked several times, jolting violently as the tail again came down onto her barrier. Nervousness spiked her gut and made her bite down, feeling her jaw begin to ache. When she again looked up, her attempt to reclaim Snap's gaze completely failed and a bone-shattering roar ripped through the air, frightening her. As she watched Snap cringe at the sound of the roar, she could find words again.

"Snap, no—" she began, but was cut off by a piercing shriek that escaped from her friend's mouth as his leg gave out and he staggered, slamming to the ground. She cringed at the sight, seeing that his head clopped against the floor. "Oh no," she whispered, feeling more nervousness creep into her gut.

In one freakishly fast moment, a deafening crash sounded, but this time, it was not the sound of the tail bashing against her shield. Her jaw hung in shock and horror as the chains binding the dragon released their hold on the wall, giving in and coming clean away. She screamed at the sight as her heart pounded at the speed of sound, her eyes darting about the place as she curled up and tried to protect herself, despite knowing that she was already protected. Her fear for Rudy and Snap escalated and she screamed in protest, trying desperately to recover from the shock as she fought to find Snap again. In the confusion, he had spotted the dragon and looked frightfully up at the giant beast, roaring and stampeding across the floor toward him. The look in Snap's eye, the one acknowledging his final moment of life in the realm of the living, sent chills down Penny's spine.

With one swift motion, Snap was slammed against the wall he had been trailing hopelessly beside, and the chalk was knocked from his glove. She could tell that the wind was driven from him and she shrieked once more, horrified by the sight before her. Snap then fell to the ground as the dragon pulled away, and in that moment, Penny knew that he was in bad shape.

Staring up at the dragon, she suddenly had no idea how she was going to shackle it again. She had no clue what happened to Rudy, while Snap's state was worse than before. She was still trapped behind the barrier, and the dragon was dangerously close to charging out of the Chalk Mine. If it did, ChalkZone would have no hope of survival.

ChalkZone's fate rested in her hands, and she had no idea what to do with it.


End file.
